Australian Federation of
Modern Language Teachers
Associations Inc.
This work was funded by
the Australian Government
Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace
Relations under the School
Languages Programme
– Languages Open the Door to a Bigger World –
____________________________________________________
PARENTS ADVOCACY STATEMENT
www.languagesopenthedoor.edu.au
Why would you encourage your kids to learn another language?
This is one important reason.
“Language skills and cultural sensitivity will be the currency of this new world order.”
— General Peter Cosgrove, speaking to a conference concerned with the state of
Languages learning in Australian schools, 30 May 2002.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has recommended that:
“… to effectively participate in a globalised world there should be the compulsory learning
of a foreign language from 7 years of age or earlier”
— Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry ACCI Skills for a Nation: A Blueprint for
Improving Education and Training 2007-2017
The obvious reason is to enable more effective communication with the non-Englishspeaking peoples of the world.
Learning another language is about recognising one of the realities of life — 94 percent of the
world’s population, or about 6.15 billion people, currently speak a language other than English. In
Australia more than 200 different languages are spoken; 16 percent of our population speaks a
language other than English at home. The world is a language-rich place. Monolingual young
people will miss out on the benefits of participating in and appreciating this astonishingly diverse
reality.
In learning a new language, students can learn things that they can learn in no other way.
An important part of being a responsible world citizen in the 21st century is to be able to manage
sensitive, effective communication and the transfer of knowledge across languages and cultures.
Through learning Languages students can understand and value their own culture and the cultures
of other people, so that they can view the world from a wider perspective.
In many parts of the world, school systems have chosen to make learning a second language —
and in some countries even a third — study requirement. This choice has been made not only
because of the value of these languages for communication with other peoples but because
students will encounter, appreciate and understand that there are distinctive ways of thinking and
being which shape the way people behave.
Second language learning can be an important aid to the development of literacy and
generic cognitive and life skills.
Page 1 of 3
Australian Federation of
Modern Language Teachers
Associations Inc.
This work was funded by
the Australian Government
Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace
Relations under the School
Languages Programme
– Languages Open the Door to a Bigger World –
____________________________________________________
PARENTS ADVOCACY STATEMENT
www.languagesopenthedoor.edu.au
It is often forgotten that learning a second language develops literacy skills. There is considerable
evidence to suggest that learning another language can enhance literacy in a student’s first
language. By comparing features of their first language with those of another language, learners
are better able to understand the structure and workings of English. For example, second
language learners develop and enhance their skills and strategies for making meaning from words.
This transfers to English.
A second language can also provide a new beginning and success at school for learners who have
struggled with English. This is good for the motivation and engagement of learners.
Students can apply the generic skills that they learn through the study of Languages to all subject
areas. These skills include critical thinking, reasoning, conceptualizing and problem solving. At the
core of Languages learning is the development of communication skills, both written and oral. The
development of all these skills prepares students for success in all subject areas and later life.
Second language proficiency opens career opportunities for students that wouldn’t
otherwise exist.
In response to a rapidly changing global marketplace, all economically-developed countries now
recognize the importance of a highly skilled, multilingual workforce. Students with good language
skills enhance their future career prospects and opportunities in fields such as aid agency work,
business services, engineering, finance services, government and public administration, health,
hospitality, marketing, media and journalism, technology, and travel and tourism.
Second language proficiency is valuable to students for many of their own personal
reasons.
Overseas travel, participation in exchange programs, and world-wide communication via the
internet are increasingly part of students’ lives. The pleasure and value of these activities can be
significantly enhanced by being able to talk to the people you are mixing with.
Internationalisation and global connections are becoming more common through schools.
You already know about global connections and relationships. They’re here to stay. The internet,
for example, has opened up a myriad of personal communication, educational and commercial
opportunities. Issues of trade and security depend on sensitive and capable cross-cultural
communication.
Many Australian schools have taken a lead in defining the practical possibilities of such
relationships through international partner school arrangements, participation in student and
teacher exchange programs, conducting excursions overseas, making international connections
via new communication technologies and so on. Students who are able to communicate in the
language of the target country get far more from these experiences.
Page 2 of 3
Australian Federation of
Modern Language Teachers
Associations Inc.
This work was funded by
the Australian Government
Department of Education,
Employment and Workplace
Relations under the School
Languages Programme
– Languages Open the Door to a Bigger World –
____________________________________________________
PARENTS ADVOCACY STATEMENT
www.languagesopenthedoor.edu.au
Your children need to be ready for a global future and all the challenges that this brings.
What you can do now.
• Discuss the benefits of Languages learning with your children. Learning Languages might seem
hard but there is a great deal to be gained from sticking with it. You don’t need to reach native
speaker fluency to get those benefits.
• Just as with any other subject, showing interest in what your child is learning is one of the most
positive things you can do. Let them 'teach' you what they have learnt; listen to them practise
their vocabulary.
• Get details of your school’s Languages offerings, not just what’s available, but the content and
quality of the program and how proficient your school’s Languages teachers expect your child to
become.
• Talk to your school about complementary providers of Languages for your students, if your
school cannot offer Languages that suit your child’s needs, e.g. consider distance education
providers, Government Schools of Languages and after-hours ethnic/community Languages
schools. You will be helping to support interest in Languages learning.
• Talk through career options with your school’s careers adviser and learn what you can about
the value of having Languages in employment terms.
• If you are a speaker of a language other than English, and many Australian parents are, there
may be ways in which you can support Languages learning and the development of intercultural
knowledge at your school.
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